New Singers: Welcome! Be sure to pick up the separate flyer for new singers.
Returning singers: Welcome Back! Some of you have been with us since the beginning, has it really been SEVEN years!? By the way, if any of you have practice tapes from last season, please bring them in.

Thank You! -- Before we get ahead of ourselves, & skip forward several centuries from last season ('O Divine Earth; Early Music of the Sacred and Secular), we want to thank everyone for their participation, & help during the concerts. I particularly want to thank the set-up crew: Martin, Greg, Barbara Michel, Prentiss, Kurt (who heroically came out of a Bella sabbatical to assist with set-up),Flavia, Alison for picking up flowers, Brendan & Prentiss for soliciting donations, Alyce for calling for advertisers, & for being our conduit to Corpus Christi (what a wonderful place to sing!), seating assistants: Chris, Lyrie, Barbara Meyers, and, as always, our fantastic board of directors. Thank you Ronni for doing stage management, Laura for writing, Jordan & Jeff logistics, lights, program help, and a thousand details, and Vivian and Priscilla, managers extraordinaire. Thank you to Matthew for helping to prepare us for our big dates; we are honored to continue to work with you. To Ann, it was once again a delight to find ourselves caught up in the net of your mu-u-u-sic. To Arlene, for your tireless dedication, wit, patience, friendship, musical insight, wall-to-wall sectionals, and for conducting the final product. You are an inspiration.

With sincere apologies to those who pitched in while our backs were turned, or who were omitted from this list due to oversight. We are deeply grateful for your contributions.

Now, on to the current season! We are whisking you forward to the 20th century, but casting a glance into history as both Duruflé & Britten drew deeply on the past for their inspiration. Of Maurice Duruflé's three arrangements of his "Requiem Mass," we will be accompanied by a 'petit orchestre', which adds richness of texture while preserving the intimacy of the music. Duruflé, like fellow French composer Gabriel Fauré, takes the gentle approach to the traditional "Mass for the Dead" in a beautiful blending of centuries-old Gregorian chant with modern harmonization and orchestration. Britten's well-loved "Ceremony of Carols" similarly shapes anonymous Medieval carols into an evocative song cycle of wonder and joy.

Recommended Recordings: Arlene taste-tested two recordings of the Duruflé Requiem with 'petit orchestre' & dubbed them both good. If you're anxious to hear it all come together, try
Duruflé / Sacred choral & organ works, vol. 1 / Michael Piquemal, cond. / Naxos R.553196
or, with the Fauré: Requiem / Corydon Singers / Matthew Best, cond. / Hyperion CDA67070
(We are still in search of a recording of the 'Carols' with mixed voices.)

Important Dates for this season:

Tues, Sept 10-Dec 3, 7-10pm	Weekly Rehearsals	Grace North Church
TBA	Dress Rehearsal	St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland
Dec 7, 8 (Sat,Sun)	Concerts	St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland

Shameless Plugs:

Matthew's The CD is a live recording of two romantic masterpieces: the Schubert Sonata in A, Op. Posth.(written in the final year of Schubert's life), and the Brahms Sonata in F minor, Op. 5, dating from the composer's 20th year, his first great masterpiece. These recordings are from two different recitals at Old First Church, San Francisco: The Schubert Sonata from a 1989 recital and the Brahms from a 2002 recital.

UCAC & the First Congregational Church of Berkeley (2345 Channing Way -- at Dana) will be hosting the Rolling Requiem sing-a-long September 11, 8:46 AM (all time-zones are represented singing Mozart's Requiem at 8:46). Bring your own score or borrow one. Singing to begin promptly, please plan to come a little early.

If you would rather have someone sing to you, up the street at the chorus will perform the Mozart Requiem.